We should stop putting women in jail. For anything.

RobYourBuilder

It sounds like a radical idea: Stop incarcerating women, and close down women’s prisons. But in Britain, there is a growing movement, sponsored by a peer in the House of Lords, to do just that.

The argument is actually quite straightforward: There are far fewer women in prison than men to start with — women make up just 7 percent of the prison population. This means that these women are disproportionately affected by a system designed for men.

But could women’s prisons actually be eliminated in the United States, where the rate of women’s incarceration has risen by 646 percent in the past 30 years? The context is different, but many of the arguments are the same.

Essentially, the case for closing women’s prisons is the same as the case for imprisoning fewer men. It is the case against the prison industrial complex and for community-based treatment where it works better than incarceration. But there is evidence that prison harms women more than men, so why not start there?

Any examination of the women who are in U.S. prisons reveals that the majority are nonviolent offenders with poor education, little employment experience and multiple histories of abuse from childhood through adulthood. Women are also more likely than men to have children who rely on them for support — 147,000 American children have mothers in prison.

Prison nation

The United States is a prison nation. More than 1.5 million people areincarcerated in the country. And this obsession with punishment is expensive. Cumulatively, states spend more than $52 billion a year on their prison systems. The federal government also spends tens of billions to police, prosecute and imprison people, though research demonstrates that incarceration harms individual well-being and does not improve public safety.

Full article here; http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/11/06/we-should-stop-putting-women-in-jail-for-anything/

The article actually brings up some legitimate problems with prisons in America and possible alternatives. I just don't really understand why the author had to frame it as a women's issue. Especially when after giving the statistic that women are only 7% of the prison population.

At home, Sen. Bacik has similar views;

There should be greater use of alternatives to custody. An open prison should be provided for women. Increased support services in the community are needed to address the complex needs of many women offenders (including mental health issues and alcohol or drug addictions), and enable them to maintain links with their children and families.

http://www.villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2014/10/imprison-fewer-women

Thoughts?

Generic Dreadhead

Well ok, I guess if there's an article on it....

RobYourBuilder

Cormac... wrote: »

Well ok, I guess if there's an article on it....

One that you didn't even bother to glance over before commenting.

Grayson

How come they're not recommending open prisons and better support services for men too?

Strong Life in Dublin

I ain't going to read that crap, lol why should they not go to jail? but it's ok for men to go to jail..........

Philo Beddoe

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

The article actually brings up some legitimate problems with prisons in America and possible alternatives. I just don't really understand why the author had to frame it as a women's issue. Especially when after giving the statistic that women are only 7% of the prison population.

People have been pointing out the benefits of prison reform for a long time. I suppose framing it as a women's issue might be one way of getting people to listen.

BoJack Horseman

Women offenders face fewer & shorter custodial sentences because they are women.

So going the extra step & exempting them from custodial sentencing altogether is the logical progression.

Exception from all criminal prosecution based on the presence of a lady-garden being the ultimate goal.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Womens prisons seem handy enough as it is, Compare Mountjoy mens prison to the Dochas centre.

coffee_cake

Saying it's about the kids reeks of hypocrisy when a toddler died because she was taken from her parents and put into foster care with people who were previously violent offenders, iirc. Because the parents smoked pot.
They do have an obsession with prison. Stop putting so many people in general in prison not just women

Increased support services in the community are needed to address the complex needs of many women offenders (including mental health issues and alcohol or drug addictions), and enable them to maintain links with their children and families.

This applies to everyone.

lucylu

as a woman NO .. do the crime do the time..

hidinginthebush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKjxFJfcrcA

hatrickpatrick

The argument is actually quite straightforward: There are far fewer women in prison than men to start with — women make up just 7 percent of the prison population. This means that these women are disproportionately affected by a system designed for men.

*pukes*
So much for equality then? Prison isn't designed for men, it's designed for criminals. The word criminal is gender neutral.

Any examination of the women who are in U.S. prisons reveals that the majority are nonviolent offenders with poor education, little employment experience and multiple histories of abuse from childhood through adulthood.

And men who grow up to be criminals don't share these traits?

Big Nasty

Maybe I'm missing something painfully obvious here but surely if there were no female prisons there would be little / no deterrent for women to offend and thus the amount of females committing crimes would increase?

Sounds a pretty dumb idea to me.

hatrickpatrick

Philo Beddoe wrote: »

People have been pointing out the benefits of prison reform for a long time. I suppose framing it as a women's issue might be one way of getting people to listen.

This comment in and of itself reflects a frightening and depressing state of the world.

RobYourBuilder

Philo Beddoe wrote: »

People have been pointing out the benefits of prison reform for a long time. I suppose framing it as a women's issue might be one way of getting people to listen.

Nearly a third of all women prisoners in the world are in American jails. A crazy stat.

According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, nearly a third of all female prisoners worldwide are incarcerated in the United States of America. There are 201,200 women in US prisons, representing 8.8 percent of the total American prison population.

China comes a very distant second to the United States with 84,600 female prisoners in total or 5.1% of the overall Chinese prison population. Russia is in third position – 59,000 of its prisoners are women and this comes to 7.8 percent of the total.

Across the world, 625,000 women and children are being held in penal institutions with the female prison population growing on all five continents.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2014/09/23/nearly-a-third-of-all-female-prisoners-worldwide-are-incarcerated-in-the-united-states-infographic/

Duckworth_Luas

Does this mean they'll cancel Orange is the New Black?

FunLover18

Any examination of the women who are in U.S. prisons reveals that the majority are nonviolent offenders with poor education, little employment experience and multiple histories of abuse from childhood through adulthood.

Surely he majority of male prisoners would be just as uneducated with just as little employment experience. I'm sure some of them were abused as kids as well.

Women are also more likely than men to have children who rely on them for support — 147,000 American children have mothers in prison.

1. In some ways they're probably better off without that criminal influence in their life.
2. How many kids have fathers in prison.

mikom

Brendan Behan's gonna be pissed.........

Taxburden carrier

mikom wrote: »

Brendan Behan's gonna be pissed.........

Brendan Behan was always pissed

AudreyHepburn

Ridiculous in my opinion.....if you do the crime you have to do the time, simple as.

lazybones32

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

Thoughts?

One thought: don't give these crazy people and their crazy ideas more publicity.

RobYourBuilder

lazybones32 wrote: »

One thought: don't give these crazy people and their crazy ideas more publicity.

The author, Patricia O'Brien, is an associate professor at the Jane Addams College of Social Work at University of Illinois at Chicago.

SEPT 23 1989

I thought chicks wanted equality

Grayson

FunLover18 wrote: »

Surely he majority of male prisoners would be just as uneducated with just as little employment experience. I'm sure some of them were abused as kids as well.

I read an article that estimated that 1 in 4 men are sexually assaulted in prison in the US. That would mean that in the US more men are sexually assaulted than women (not just in prison)

Prisons are not working either here or the US. There needs to be far more rehabilitation and less focus on punishment.

That goes for pre prison too. there are guys who accrue loads of convictions and aren't jailed because none are deemed serious enough for prison. they might not be, but that doesn't mean that nothing should be done. There should be programs to help prevent it getting worse.

bodice ripper

No! Going to women's prison was my retirement plan!

Generic Dreadhead

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

I thought chicks wanted equality

Oh how naive

Philo Beddoe

RobYourBuilder wrote: »

Nearly a third of all women prisoners in the world are in American jails. A crazy stat.

Considering that almost a quarter of the global prison population is in the US, it's not that surprising.

lazybones32

Grayson wrote: »

How come they're not recommending open prisons and better support services for men too?

Duh! When a woman commits a crime, many people think a man put her up to it/forced her to do it/hurt her in the past which caused her to act like this...which eliminates her personal responsibility for committing the crime.

Hazys

Ok if I wanted to murder somebody, i'll just pay a women to do it. There are no consequences if she gets caught so why wouldn't she do it if the money is right?

Hazys

Where are the feminists who are up in arms about the inequality of such a suggestion?

hatrickpatrick

Hazys wrote: »

Where are the feminists who are up in arms about the inequality of such a suggestion?

They're busy having a sing-song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4m4lnjxkY#t=0m25s